If the Pine Gulch Fire 12 miles north of Grand Junction, Colorado continues growing at the pace it has shown for the last couple of days, it will soon become the largest fire in the state’s recorded history, surpassing the Hayman Fire that burned 137,760 acres in 2002. On Wednesday the Pine Gulch Fire was 135,920 acres, an increase of 1,795 in the previous 24 hours.
The area was under a flash flood watch Wednesday afternoon for heavy rain from thunderstorms that could lead to flooding and debris flows.
In the last week the only large heat sources that satellites could detect were on the northwest edge where it has been spreading recently and in the interior. There are undoubtably many smaller hot areas still burning or smoldering that the satellites orbiting over 200 miles overhead could not detect.
The red line was the perimeter of the Pine Gulch Fire at 12:09 p.m. MDT August 26, 2020. The white line was the perimeter two days before.Pine Gulch Fire August 21, 2020. InciWeb.Pine Gulch Fire August 21, 2020. InciWeb.Firefighters on Pine Gulch Fire during night shift, August 17, 2020. InciWeb.Single engine air tanker reloading while working the Pine Gulch Fire August 24, 2020, InciWeb.
Lightning on the Pine Gulch Fire at 12:47 a.m. MDT August 19, 2020. Image by Grand Junction NSW. White text and arrows added by Wildfire Today.
The Pine Gulch Fire 15 miles north of Grand Junction, Colorado created its own weather very early this morning. It took a combination of several factors, including low relative humidity, an unstable atmosphere, plenty of available fuels (vegetation), and strong outflow winds from a thunderstorm to the north that blew through the fire area between 10:20-10:30 p.m. This caused the fire to increase in intensity and the development of a very large pyrocumulus cloud over the smoke column that created lightning.
Here is the tweet from the National Weather Service that accompanied the image above:
The Weather Service said the lightning lasted for hours and Grand Junction residents could hear the thunder.
Did you hear thunder in Grand Junction last night? That’s right…the #PineGulchFire produced hours of lightning and occasionally the bolts were visible. Here is a video taken at our office. The 3rd largest wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history is full of surprises. #cowxpic.twitter.com/1u4ZlaEtlG
Below is map of the fire showing the perimeter at 1:49 a.m MDT August 19, 2020.
The red line on the map was the perimeter of the Pine Gulch Fire at 1:58 a.m. MDT August 19, 2020. The white line was the perimeter three days before.
The Pine Gulch Fire grew by 37,899 acres on August 18, bringing size up to 125,108 acres.
The Garfield County Sheriff issued new evacuation orders for the northwest side of the Pine Gulch fire August 19.
From the Mesa County line north to the east/west Colorado Highway 256 (Four A Ridge Road) including north/south CO Hwy 256. 256/205 moving from pre-evacuation to full evacuation.
From Highway 139 Douglas Pass road east to the preexisting evacuation order for Carr Creek Road (207).
This includes CO Hwy 205 Salt Wash and Kimball Creek Road (202) on Kimball Mountain.
CO Hwy 258/King Road is evacuated.
Pine Gulch Fire Tuesday night, August 18, 2020. InciWeb.
The Wyoming Hotshots on the Pine Gulch Fire August 7, 2020. InciWeb.
A week ago when I was talking with a colleague about the national wildfire situation we agreed there was a “lull” in the action. With new fires in California and Colorado since then, that has changed.
In southern California on August 12 the Lake Fire west of Lancaster grew large enough 29 minutes after it was reported to create pyrocumulus clouds above the smoke column. Three hours later it was 10,000 acres and Friday had blackened at least 17,000 acres.
But much of the focus has turned Colorado where four large fires are out of control.
Map showing four large wildfires in Colorado, August 15, 2020.
The Pine Gulch Fire 15 miles north of Grand Junction, Colorado at 73,381 acres Saturday became the fourth largest fire in the recorded history of the state. The Rocky Mountain Type 1 Incident Management Team with Dan Dallas as Incident Commander assumed command of the Friday morning after transitioning with the type 2 team.
The Grizzly Creek Fire just east of Glenwood Springs has been adding thousands of acres every day since it started August 10. Interstate 70 has been closed since then due to the fire.
View of the Grizzly Creek Fire from a helicopter August 14, 2020. InciWeb.
The newest of the four large fires in Colorado is the Williams Fork Fire 10 air miles southeast of Williams Fork Reservoir and 19 miles southeast of Kremmling reported just before noon Friday August 14. Firefighters estimated Friday night it was 1,300 acres and said it is exhibiting extreme fire behavior as it moves east and northeast toward Church Park. The fire is currently holding east of CR 30 and south of Keyser Creek in an area with intensive beetle kill from the early 2000s. Henderson Mill and its infrastructure along with multiple other utilities are in the immediate area.
Map showing heat on the Williams Fork Fire detected by a satellite at 3:54 a.m. MDT August 15.
The Cameron Peak Fire has been burning since August 13 in the Rawah Wilderness on the Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests near Highway 14 and Chambers Lake. It is 36 air miles west of Fort Collins, Colorado and as of Friday night had burned about 5,424 acres. Mike Haydon’s Type 2 Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team Blue will assume command today, August 15. The Cameron Peak Fire started west of Chambers Lake and has crossed Highway 14 to the east, burning nearly 800 acres on the south side of the highway.
To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Cameron Peak Fire including the most recent, click here.
The red line was the perimeter of the Cameron Peak Fire at 10:30 p.m. MDT August 14, 2020. The white line was the perimeter about 24 hours before.
Fire officials said if winds and slope align at the fire Sunday, there is a possibility for extreme fire behavior again
3-D map of the Pine Gulch Fire looking north. The red line was the fire perimeter at 8:08 p.m. MDT August 8, 2020. The white line was the perimeter three days before.
The Pine Gulch Fire 15 miles north of Grand Junction and 19 miles west of Parachute, Colorado has been very active for the last three days, spreading to the west, southeast, and especially to the north (see map below). The growth on August 7 was described as explosive, and at 7 a.m. Sunday morning a large smoke column was forming, which is unusual for that time of day. The fire has burned 23,882 acres.
Smoke from the fire has been moving into eastern Colorado and other states to the east and northeast.
The Pine Gulch Fire at 7 a.m. MDT August 9, 2020 as seen from the Incident Command Post. InciWeb.
(To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Pine Gulch Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.)
From the Incident Management Team Sunday morning at 10 MDT:
Humidity recovery was poor again overnight. Humidity will decrease through the day [Sunday] with an expected minimum relative humidity as low as 8%. Temperatures are expected to be 85-88 degrees. Winds out of the southwest are again expected to pick up to 15 mph through the day. If winds and slope align over the fire, there is a possibility for extreme fire behavior again today.
Shot from Colorado National Monument August 7, 2020 about 15 miles Southwest of the Pine Gulch Fire. The view is looking towards the northeast and shows some of the explosive activity on the northern front Friday and the huge smoke plume extending to the east. Photo by Jennifer Deering.
Garfield County issued an evacuation order for residences on CR 202 and a pre-evacuation order for all residences on county roads 204, 207, 209, and Clear Creek Road. For more information on evacuation orders, visit https://garfieldcounty.net/.
Map of the Pine Gulch Fire. The red line was the fire perimeter at 8:08 p.m. MDT August 8, 2020. The white line was the perimeter three days before.
Pyrocumulus clouds form over the Pine Gulch Fire north of Grand Junction, Colorado, August 5, 2020. Photo by Jennifer Deering.
Since the lightning-caused Pine Gulch Fire was discovered July 31 it has burned 11,846 acres 15 miles north of Grand Junction, Colorado. It was very active on Wednesday with most of the growth, an additional 6,161 acres, occurring on the northeast and northwest sides. The fire is expanding beyond lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management onto private property.
(To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Pine Gulch Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.)
Aerial resources are available again Thursday to assist firefighters on the ground. Four more engines and additional crews will be added to a “swing shift.” These crews will work the late afternoon to early morning hours on the south side of the fire to continue operations initiated during the day.
Map of the Pine Gulch Fire at 9:31 p.m. MDT August 5, 2020.
A Red Flag Warning is in effect in the area from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. due to gusty winds and hot, dry conditions. The forecast calls for wind gusts of 25 to 30 mph in the afternoon with very low humidity – near 10%. Conditions over next two days will be critical on the fire as activity is expected to increase, with the potential for high rates of spread.
Resources on the Pine Gulch Fire include 4 hand crews, 16 engines, 4 helicopters, and a variable number of air tankers for a total of 292 personnel.
A Type 2 Incident Management Team led by Incident Commander Troy Hagan is assigned.
